DOHA: The US Central Command will host a conference in Doha on December 16 with partner nations to plan the establishment of a UN-authorised International Stabilization Force (ISF) for Gaza, US officials said, as Washington steps up preparations for the next phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
More than 25 countries are expected to send representatives to the meeting, which will include sessions on the command structure, force composition, housing, training and rules of engagement for the proposed force, the officials said. An American two-star general is being considered to lead the ISF, although no final decision has been taken.
International troops could be deployed to Gaza as early as next month, the officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. They said the ISF would not engage in direct combat with Hamas and that many countries had expressed interest in contributing personnel.
Deployment of the force is a central pillar of the second phase of Trump’s peace initiative for Gaza. Under the first phase, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year-old war took effect on Oct. 10, during which Hamas released hostages and Israel freed detained Palestinians.
“There is a lot of quiet planning that’s going on behind the scenes right now for phase two of the peace deal,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday.
“We want to ensure an enduring and lasting peace.”
Indonesia has said it is prepared to deploy up to 20,000 troops to Gaza, primarily for health-care and construction-related tasks.
“It is still in the planning and preparation stages,” said Rico Sirait, spokesperson for Indonesia’s Defence Ministry.
“We are now preparing the organizational structure of the forces to be deployed.”
Israel currently controls about 53 percent of Gaza, while nearly all of the enclave’s roughly two million residents are concentrated in the remaining Hamas-held areas.
According to US officials, the plan — which must be finalised by a body known as the Board of Peace — envisages the ISF initially deploying in areas currently held by Israeli forces. As the force establishes control and stability, Israeli troops would gradually withdraw “based on standards, milestones, and timeframes linked to demilitarization,” under the Trump peace plan.
A UN Security Council resolution adopted on Nov. 17 authorised the creation of the Board of Peace and empowered countries working with it to establish the ISF. Trump said on Wednesday that an announcement on which world leaders will serve on the Board of Peace would be made early next year.
The Security Council mandate authorises the ISF to work alongside newly trained and vetted Palestinian police to stabilise security in Gaza by overseeing its demilitarisation.
This includes “the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of the military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups,” according to the resolution.
How such measures would be implemented on the ground remains unclear.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said on Thursday that the ISF had been authorised by the Security Council to demilitarise Gaza “by all means necessary,” including the possible use of force.
“Obviously that’ll be a conversation with each country,” Waltz told Israel’s Channel 12, adding that discussions on rules of engagement were ongoing.
Hamas has said the issue of disarmament has not been formally discussed with it by the mediators — the United States, Egypt and Qatar — and has maintained that it will not disarm unless a Palestinian state is established.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Sunday that the second phase of the plan would move toward demilitarisation and disarmament.
“Now that raises a question: Our friends in America want to try and establish a multinational task force to do the job,” Netanyahu said.
“I told them I welcome it. Are volunteers here? Be my guest.”
“We know there are certain tasks that this force can perform … but some things are beyond their abilities, and perhaps the main thing is beyond their abilities, but we will see about that,” he added.
The US officials said Washington is continuing to work on the ISF’s size, composition, deployment logistics and mandate, as diplomatic efforts intensify to shape Gaza’s post-war security framework.
